The analysis of historical cycles, from the humiliation of Auerstedt to the debacle of 1940, demonstrates an iron law: the refusal to listen to the sentinels (Stoffel, Pellé, de Gaulle) leads inevitably to disaster. Today, General Mandon's warning about the need for moral rearmament is neither a provocation nor an isolated case, but aligns strictly with the analyses of his European counterparts, from Swedish General Micael Bydén to the Baltic and German intelligence chiefs. In most European countries, the highest defense officials have made very similar remarks, calling for mental preparation in the face of imminent peril. This strategic lucidity has ultimately shocked only the pro-Russian or complacent voices found at the extremes of the European political spectrum, who prefer the comfort of denial to the harshness of survival.
History is a judge of blood: from Sedan to 1940, it sentences without appeal those nations that despise their sentinels. The dead of 1940 are watching us: to ignore the threat is to choose disaster. Yet, facing Russia, Europe is still sleeping. The Chief of Defense is doing his duty when he speaks the raw truth: deterrence requires being ready to “lose our children.”

Opposite him? A caste of mediocre politicians prefers to scream scandal. Objective allies of Russian propaganda, these merchants of illusions sell us comfort when we should be forging swords. A choir of weepers, a sordid alliance of political second-stringers hungry for buzz and pro-Russian proxies who, out of cowardice, morally disarm the nation. This façade of pacifism is criminal. Refusing to see the coming war is signing our own death warrant. The choice is simple: lucidity or blood. By preparing, we might just avoid it.

This moral treason has a price, and it is already fixed. There is no room left for lies: either we face reality, or we will pay for our blindness with our lives.